updated February 17, 2009

Looking To Score Goal: All eyes are on the Dynamo team as its' Lego-based robot attempts to score goals against an opponent in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering's winter NXT Soccer Tournament. Jonathan Picard (wearing Boston Redsox shirt) controls the robot. Watching the action are team members Adam Jesionowski (black shirt, left) and Erik Snider (green shirt, top), and faculty judges Daniel Moore (red shirt) and Jim Baker (suit and tie).

The broad smiles and high-spirited congratulatory handshakes were all that veteran engineering educators Fred Berry, David Voltmer and Daniel Moore needed to reaffirm their belief that an engineering practice course was needed earlier in the development cycle for electrical and computer engineering students at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.

Instead of waiting until the junior level in the four-year department curriculum, the course that introduces design principles has been moved to the freshman year. That allows students to practice and match their problem solving, programming and team working skills in a fun-filled and educational robotics challenge.

So, teams of freshmen and juniors have spent the fall and winter quarters this academic year designing and constructing Lego-based robots that execute a variety of challenging tasks: Delivering ping pong balls through a complicated maze, making free throws with rapid-fire skill and, now, scoring goals in a one-on-one soccer match. (See sidebar story at bottom that described this year's ECE robotics challenges.)

On Wednesday, Feb. 11, Rose-Hulman students showcased zero-emission, autonomous robots that operated as a defender of the soccer goal and as a potential offensive player in the NXT Soccer Shoot Out. There were separate competitions for teams in the freshman and junior course sections. Then, heating up the competition even further, the class champions squared off in an ultimate showdown.

Blocking Opposing Shot: Watching their robot successfully stop an opposing team's shot were members of the Paranoid Androids team of Paul Morrison (white shirt), Benjamin Seibert (blue shirt) and Eric Schulte (red shirt).

The engineering practice course strives to give students a basic understanding of teamwork, programming, communication skills, report writing and aspects of electrical and computer engineering principles. It’s a multi-disciplinary experience with electrical engineering majors working alongside computer engineering students.

“Moving this design course to the freshman year helps expose students to hands-on learning and design principles –- staples of the Rose-Hulman education,” stated Berry, head of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “Throughout these competitions you can feel the enthusiasm that these students have for electrical and computer engineering. We needed to capture that creativity and excitement earlier in the students’ development cycle.”

Creativity and excitement was abundant throughout the fall and winter quarter design competitions, with last-minute, come-from-behind victories and upset finishes.

Looking To Score: Members of the Victorious Secret team look to add to their scoring total during the winter NXT Soccer Tournament robotics challenge. Alex Kaiser (left) had the Wiimote and controlled the robot, while Sean Donohue (middle) and Ryan Moss (right) keep track of the team's progress.

This winter, slow-motion replay was required to decide the JABA Solutions team had upset the top-seeded Paranoid Androids team in the championship match of the juniors division of the NXT Soccer Shoot Out. Judges had to closely review -- frame by frame -- the specific timing that it took for each team’s ping pong ball to cross the goal line after being shot by the robot. The competition was that close!

The winning effort marked a remarkable comeback for a JABA Solutions team that had suffered a narrow loss in the third round of competition, only to make it to the division final with six straight victories, including a slim 5.6-to-5.5 revenge triumph the third round competitor and back-to-back shutout victories over the top-seeded Paranoid Androids and Dynamos teams. Members of the junior champions were computer engineering students Aaron Bauer, Joshua Hayfer and Robert Stiefel joined junior electrical engineering student Andrew Anderson.

Then, JABBA Solutions had little left for the feisty freshman division team winners, The Wizards, to capture the ultimate Ruler of the Pitch Award –- out of 18 total teams in both divisions. Members of the winning freshman team were electrical engineering students Mishari Albulushi, Garry Payne, Pete Siniawski and Ian Stevenson.

Scoring Machine: The Mindstorm Chasers’ robot showcased the rapid-fire scoring design that gave the team a victory in the fall Bodacious Basketball Bash robotics challenge.

There were also awards presented for the highest scoring team, most creative/elegant successful solution and most theatrical solution. The awards and class division titles had no bearing on the students’ course grade.

“The competition was strictly for fun, the sense of adventure, and allowed students to put into practice those skills that they have learned to become effective engineers,” emphasized Moore, professor of electrical and computer engineering and associate dean of Rose-Hulman’ faculty.

David Voltmer, a veteran Rose-Hulman faculty member and Fellow in the American Society of Engineering Education, added: "These students have learned the principles of design that will stay with them throughout their engineering careers."

Teams utilized a variety of strategies to score goals and keep opposing teams' balls from crossing the goal line. On offense, some robots utilized twin spinning wheels to shoot the ping pong ball in rapid-fire motion. Others used paddles, levers and ramps to set their balls in motion toward the enemy's goal. Defensively, teams used gates, spinning wheels and pieces that stayed in front of the goal for no more than five seconds at any time.

Murphy's Law In Command: Peter Wenzel (green shirt) watches as the robot he helped design tries to score baskets in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering's challenge.

"We came up with our defensive strategy in 10 minutes, while our offensive game plan has been a work in progress throughout the course," admitted The Dynamo team member Erik Snider, a junior electrical engineering major. "The defense (featuring a large spinning paddle in front of the goal) is so fragile that I hope it keeps up the pace throughout the contest."

Meanwhile, the Paranoid Androids team sacrificed defensive mobility for offense, with a large gate, featuring eight paddles, proving to be formidable opposition for enemy teams.

"Our design was a total-team effort," stated Eric Schulte, a sophomore computer engineering major. "We tried to bend, but not break, the rules. We accomplished a lot of our goals and we did well at the competition."

During the fall, freshmen designed robots that picked up ping-pong balls from one area and placed them into one of five delivery points in a maze –- determined by a random roll of a dice. Meanwhile, juniors constructed robots that successfully scored free throws on a miniature basketball court, an appropriate challenge in a state known for its “Hoosier Hysteria” with the winter sport.

The Ramrod team won the freshman division by scoring 102 points on its final of three attempts, overtaking the heavily-favored Extremely Good Looking?? team (99.6 points). The winning team included electric engineering majors Brian Cherbak, Gavin Darroca and Yuejun Zhu, and computer engineering student David Zitnik.

Exciting Finish: Brian Cherbak, a freshman electrical engineering major, pumps his fist to show his pleasure as the Ramrod robot, controlled by freshman computer engineering student David Zitnik, pulled out a last-minute victory in the freshman robotics design challenge.

"I wasn't too happy with the (design) course during the last few weeks of the (fall) quarter, but things definitely picked up as we started practicing for the final competition," admitted Cherbak, who wore body paint that showcased his team's name. "Documenting your work and writing reports are a painful experience. I thought it was a waste of time at the beginning. However, by the end I could see why the communication process is so useful. I now understand that there is a balance between the project design and all those reports."

Jay Dial, a freshman computer engineering major, added: "We learned that Murphy's Law is immortal. Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong when you're working with robots."

Winning the junior-level Basketball Bash Competition by once scoring 1,500 free throws during a two-minute period was the Mindstorm Chasers’ robot designed by senior computer engineering major Xander Huff, junior electrical engineering major Michael Fiedeldey and junior computer engineering major Brandon Woodward. The team utilized a design that had five ping pond balls in a continuous loop, with one ball passing through the basketball loop every second. The design was so efficient that judges that a difficult time keeping up with the team's score.

Also utilizing the loop design was the Super Slammers team, but not as quickly as the winning team. The team scored over 111 balls in the two-minute period during one round of competition. The robot was designed by junior electrical engineering students Jessica Lipscomb, Sarah Smebak and Brian Telljohann.